Letter to the Editor: Leaving Greek life unchecked enables entitlement among members

On Feb. 8, a friend and I arrived at the Pavilion early to get seats in the front row of the middle section for the anticipated basketball game between UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Because it was Greek night, the fraternities and sororities had come together to grab seats in the front section, but were being quite rowdy and pressuring those who had already been there early to essentially relocate to other spots.

This had occurred to my friend and me, despite us being there about 40 minutes before tipoff. We had no choice but to move and find different seats, considering how immature and rude the fraternities and sororities were acting that night. We were frustrated and upset because we were forced to abandon our seats to the overflowing crowd of fraternity and sorority members who felt entitled and superior to those who were already there before they had arrived.

I understand this was a highly anticipated game and passions were high, but it was also quite classless and immature to see certain members use such crude and vulgar language against the players of the Santa Barbara team. All in all, even though we lost a competitive game and were disappointed with the result, what had been equally disappointing was the conduct and behavior of the fraternities and sororities, particularly the members who occupied the central student section of the Pavilion. What had meant to be a fun and enjoyable game to watch was ruined by the rudeness and entitled privilege of the Greek life members — a wrong and unjust privilege that shouldn’t be permitted. Their attitudes must be addressed, considering that their whole mission is to recruit new members to their different houses and to include and be respectful to others, which certainly wasn’t the case that night.

Greek life, in general, allows many students to feel that they have a protected sense of entitlement and privilege, to boast and feel empowered by their continuous and unchecked behavior that will carry over as they progress to future studies or the professional world. The purpose and understanding of Greek life is to improve and make members feel as though they are a part of a brotherhood or sisterhood. However, it’s an unchecked organization that will continue to enable some ill-mannered, unprofessional characters to act and feel superior to other students. This is a tradition that needs to be revised and retaught because, from my point of view, it’s a disappointing and unsophisticated culture on campus.

VIKRAM SINGH, DAVIS

Vikram Singh is a third-year history major at UC Davis.

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